Category:

Dateline:

Public Company Information:

NASDAQ:

SCHW

LUBBOCK, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Texas Tech University1 College of Human Sciences has opened the new Charles Schwab Personal Financial Planning Technology Complex, which contains the largest collection of professional software in any collegiate financial planning program in the United States, on the Lubbock, Texas, campus. The facility houses a technology classroom, technology work lab, and resource workspace that will be used by more than 300 undergraduate and graduate students in the university’s Division of Personal Financial Planning.

In October 2007, Charles Schwab Foundation2 made a $1 million pledge to the Division of Personal Financial Planning at Texas Tech University. The pledge was used to build the Charles Schwab Personal Financial Planning Technology Complex and fund a research scholar who will conduct original research which will initially result in a Financial Planning Job Analysis Study to be released later this year. The pledge was part of a program of activities celebrating Schwab’s twentieth anniversary serving the independent investment advisory industry. Charles Schwab is a leading provider of custodial, operational and trading support for more than 5,500 independent investment advisory firms.

The new Schwab facility will give Texas Tech the opportunity to provide its students with a more robust Advanced Technology course that will give them hands-on experience with a variety of technological aspects of financial planning, including client portfolio management, reporting, and customer relationship management. To further support Texas Tech, Schwab has also made a donation of its PortfolioCenter® portfolio data management software to the facility. PortfolioCenter3 is being taught in the university’s Advanced Technology course.

The facility will also support Texas Tech’s existing Student Managed Portfolio program that allows students to manage actual dollars and get real-world experience in the area of money management, as well as its “Red to Black” program where students in the financial planning program provide free financial counseling and planning services to both students and families in the community.

“Through its Division of Personal Financial Planning, Texas Tech has long been an advocate for the independent investment advisory model, and the new Schwab facility at Texas Tech is our way of expressing commitment to the future of the industry,” said Bernie Clark, senior vice president of sales in Charles Schwab’s Advisor Services division. “Independent advisors are in a unique position to grow and succeed in the current environment, and with that comes the need for talented young people to join these firms.”

The dedication of the new Charles Schwab Personal Financial Planning Technology Complex was part of Texas Tech Opportunity Days, a three-day event held February 18-20, designed to provide employers such as investment advisory firms, banks and insurance firms with the chance to interview students in the university’s Division of Personal Financial Planning for both internship and full-time positions.

“Schwab has given us the opportunity to focus on experiential learning at the university level so that graduates of the program are ready to work from day one,” said Deena Katz, Texas Tech University Associate Professor and coordinator of this initiative. “This can only be a gigantic boost for advisors who need good, skilled people now.”

About Charles Schwab

The Charles Schwab Corporation (Nasdaq:SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services, with more than 300 offices and 7.4 million client brokerage accounts, 1.5 million corporate retirement plan participants, 468,000 banking accounts, and $1.1 trillion in client assets. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of securities brokerage, banking, money management and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, www.sipc.org), and affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through its Advisor Services division. The Charles Schwab Bank (member FDIC) provides banking and mortgage services and products. More information is available at www.schwab.com. (0209-7202)

1 Texas Tech University is not affiliated with Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

2 Charles Schwab Foundation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation, classified by the IRS as a charity under section 501(c),(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Charles Schwab Foundation is neither a part of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC) nor its parent company The Charles Schwab Corporation.

3 PortfolioCenter® is a product of Schwab Performance Technologies® (SPT). SPT is a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation.